A conversation with Step
Green Roofs for Healthy
112 | BusinessWorld |
July-August 2014
Green Roofs for Healthy Cities founder Steven W. Peck was first turned on to the concept of green
roofs in 1997 while attending a conference on financing municipal environmental infrastructure.
Soon after, he applied for funding from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation to, in his
words, “basically write what became the blueprint to develop the green roof market in North
America.”
He asked questions about basic barriers to implementation and the real scientifically quantifiable
benefits of green roofs and generated a report called “Greenbacks for Green Roofs” to help forge
the new industry in Canada and the United States. The initial reporting process involved the
assistance of several companies who, at the same time, were also doing initial research around the
green roof concept.
“A lot of these companies worked in Canada and the United States,” Peck said. “And so after this
report was completed, I approached 10 of these companies and said, 'Hey guys, instead of
everybody doing their own thing, why don't we pool our resources and we'll start a coalition called
'Green Roofs for Healthy Cities' and the focus of this will be to build a demonstration and research
